An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 26 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:26

إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِّمَن يَخْشَىٰٓ

“Indeed in that is a lesson [i.e., warning] for whoever would fear [Allāh].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Pharaoh's story is a river to cross, from his bank to yours; only the one in awe of Allah makes the crossing.

A reflection

Stepping stones across the stream

A family on a country walk comes to a stream with a line of flat stepping stones across it. The father goes first, testing each one. The children follow, arms out for balance, laughing. The point of the stones is not the stones. It is getting to the other side.

The first hearers heard exactly that movement in ʿibra. The root ʿ-b-r is passing right through something. ʿIbr is a river's bank; ʿubūr is crossing to the other side, by swimming, by boat or by bridge. A tear 'crosses' the cheek. Words cross the air from tongue to ear. The dream-reader walks his thought from a dream's first scene to its meaning. That image is established in the lexicons.

So an ʿibra is not simply a 'lesson' in the classroom sense. It sets two banks facing each other: what happened to them, and what could happen to you. You are meant to cross from one to the other. The lexicons describe it as placing two cases side by side, so that you pass in your mind from the story to your own life.

That is exactly how this ayah closes Musa's story. 'Indeed, in that is an ʿibra for whoever fears.' The sources say the story holds a warning: whoever shares Pharaoh's arrogance shares his fate. One classical scholar adds that it also holds a promise: Allah raised Musa and gave him victory. Both banks are there.

The danger is to admire the river from one bank. We read about Pharaoh and think, 'What a monster.' We never cross. The story stays about him. An ʿibra only works when you step onto the stones and arrive, dripping a little, on your own side. Where am I arrogant? Where am I refusing a sign? Where am I gathering a crowd to avoid the truth?

The same root, by the way, gives ʿabra: a tear. Sometimes the crossing is felt before it is thought.

Take one part of Pharaoh's story this week and cross with it. Write down where it lands in your own life.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.